These iconic avantgarde metallers return in 2013 with a new album, entitled Target Earth, four years after the credible Infini, released in 2009. In their most recent release the Canadian natives return, musically, to the old sound of Dimension Hatröss and Nothingface putting up a great musical showdown of progressive and technical metal.

Throughout the years, Voivod has fluctuated from sound to sound, adopting different styles and degrees of thrash and progressive metal. In Target Earth, the band releases one of the most technical and exquisite instrumental works of the last 10 years. The album is a powerful effort of thrash and progressive metal. "Kluskap O'Kom", "Corps Étranger" and "Mechanical Mind" show the band at their top form with complicated riffs and quite inspired instrumental arrangements all around. Michel "Away" Langevin's and Denis "Snake" Belanger's performances are something to take notice of. Although the band lost their most important member, Voivod was able to renew themselves in the last eight years putting together some exciting performances and showing a great unity as a group. Voivod was able to continue writing some intelligent music with very clever lyrics, just pay attention to "Empathy For The Enemy", "Mechanical Mind", "Resistance" and "Warchaic". Not only the album' lyrics, performances, and instrumental arrangements are quite good, its production sets the mood for solidifying the album as a great piece of thrash and progressive metal.

Although the band doesn't present its main lineup for quite some time now, after the death of Denis "Piggy" D'Amour, the band maintained their "head above the water" and presented very credible records with the classic Voivod sound. Despite the band's variation of sound in the last 15 or 20 years, the group maintained a classic personality. The album is not an instant classic but it is indeed an album worth listening and keeping. It's a progressive, heavy, thrashy, and fast album released right in the beginning of 2013.

Comments

Agreed with your assessment. Although the album isn't mind-blowing or anything, I like that their sound returned a bit to their heyday. Dan's guitar really sounds a lot like Piggy's, intentional I'd say yes?

Agreed with your assessment. Although the album isn't mind-blowing or anything I like that their sound returned a bit to their heyday. Dan's guitar really sounds a lot like Piggy's, intentional I'd say yes?

I'm listening to it for the second time and for me it is one of their best releases. The recording quality is excellent also, even the live tracks sound studio.And looking into this release also made me aware of "Warriors of Ice", their live album. When I heard it for the first time and thought "This is awesome" Voivod has been a cult classic for me for years. I was originally drawn to the sci-fi sound and lyrics of the band, and I really like their unique album covers, this band has a style and approach all their own. But if anyone knows of any similar bands, it would be cool if you could let me know.
Thanks for the good review, D